No charges yet after wife shoots and kills mayor in suburb of Los Angeles

A police officer and residents are seen at the crime scene where mayor of Bell Gardens, California Daniel Crespo was shot, at a condominium in Bell Gardens, California September 30, 2014. REUTERS/Bob Riha

No charges have been filed so far in the shooting death of the mayor of the small Los Angeles suburb of Bell Gardens, a day after his wife shot him during a heated argument, authorities said on Wednesday.

Bell Gardens Mayor Daniel Crespo, 45, and his wife, Levette, 43, were arguing on Tuesday afternoon at their home in the city when their 19-year-old son, Daniel Crespo Jr, intervened, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials said.

Father and son got into a physical fight and Levette Crespo got a gun and shot her husband multiple times, officials said.

He was pronounced dead in a local hospital, sheriff’s officials said. The couple had been married since 1986 and have two adult children.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office will determine if charges should be filed against Levette Crespo, officials said.

“As far as I know, we have not (received the case),” said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement it was working with Bell Gardens police to investigate the death of Crespo, who for the past 15 years had worked as a Los Angeles County deputy probation officer.

The Sheriff’s Department will turn over the case to prosecutors, and that will probably happen “sooner (rather) than later,” said Bell Gardens police Lieutenant Scott Fairfield.

Daniel Crespo Jr was treated for injuries to his face after the altercation with his father, Fairfield said.

Both Levette Crespo and Daniel Crespo Jr were released after questioning late on Tuesday, police said.

Police have not said who owned the gun used in the shooting of Crespo, who according to a biography on the Bell Gardens website was born and raised in a housing project in the New York City borough of Brooklyn and was the high school sweetheart of Levette.